Western Producer reporter Brian Cross is in Australia to meet grain industry experts and talk to farmers in the post Australian Wheat Board era. He will explore how the grain handling industry has fared since it completed its transition from a single desk to an open market in 2008, and whether it holds any lessons […] Read more
Tag Archives Special Report
Canola crops gaining ground in Oz
BECKOM, Aus. — Canola, a made-in-Canada crop that has been boosting Canadian farm incomes for more than 30 years, is continuing to gain favour among growers in Australia. Nick Goddard, executive director of the Australia Oilseeds Federation (AOF), says canola acreage continues to increase throughout the country as producers look for more rotational options and […] Read more
Life in an open market: Australia’s experience
Western Producer reporter Brian Cross is in Australia to meet grain industry experts and talk to farmers in the post Australian Wheat Board era. He will explore how the grain handling industry has fared since it completed its transition from a single desk to an open market in 2008, and whether it holds any lessons […] Read more
Course motivates learning about ag and science
It’s hard to define empowerment, except that it’s one of those feel-good words frequently used by social workers, psychologists and motivational speakers. Regardless of definition, empowerment is an excellent word to describe why Lauren Reynolds, a Grade 12 student at Evan Hardy Collegiate in Saskatoon, liked a course she took at the school last year […] Read more
The trouble with intolerance
VANCOUVER – Canada’s flax industry has incurred substantial costs in the two years since a genetically modified variety was discovered in the handling system. Sales to Europe are expected to be 100,000 tonnes in 2011-12, only one-quarter of what they were in the pre-Triffid era. Canada’s share of the EU flax market has fallen to […] Read more
False positives make foolproof testing impossible
VANCOUVER – Faulty testing is one of the reasons the Canadian flax industry considers the European Union’s 0.01 percent tolerance level for Triffid contamination unworkable. The tests are so sensitive and the contamination levels so tiny that the test can sometimes indicate presence of Triffid even when it is not there. This is called a […] Read more
Regulatory systems for GM crops a red tape nightmare
VANCOUVER – North America’s approval system for GM crops has become so cumbersome, overtaxed and subject to litigation that it is leading to long delays in getting new products to market, said Monsanto. Approval systems are even worse elsewhere in the world, leading to the asynchronous approvals that are at the heart of the low […] Read more
Nutrient runoff threatens water
Federal politicians are beginning to understand the importance of phosphorus sustainability and security, said Mavinic, who has developed technology to turn domestic sewage waste into quality phosphate fertilizer. Mavinic, who spoke to MPs and senior bureaucrats at a breakfast lecture series in fall 2009, said Canada has to reduce, reuse and recycle phosphorus. “Ever since […] Read more
Reuse, reduce and recyle
“For example, UBC’s research centre has got 550 cows. That’s a population equivalent of almost 10,000 people when you look at the (phosphate recovery potential),” he said. The turf industry is the primary buyer of Crystal Green fertilizer. To tap into that potential, Victor Lo of UBC will test a pilot plant this summer to […] Read more
Nutrient runoff threatens water quality
Phosphorus is a plant nutrient with an essential role in helping farmers keep up with the world’s growing food demand. A recent reassessment of rock phosphate reserves calmed worries that the global resource was running low. However, it remains in the spotlight because the nutrient, from farm fertilizer, livestock manure and municipal sewage, washes into […] Read more
